Planted next to rockets, satellites and space stations, the European Space Expo was right at home at the Toulouse Cité de l’espace.

Constructing and maintaining the road network is an expensive endeavour. But with the help of specialised satellite positioning equipment developed under a Galileo FP7 project, the route to optimal road quality and cost saving could now be a matter of course.

Delegates at this year's RUC 2012 Conference in Brussels discussed new trends in road charging in Europe, including Galileo and EGNOS-based schemes.

High-level representatives discussed the state of play in global satellite navigation technologies, including GPS, Glonass, EGNOS and Galileo, and China's Compass.

'Scutum' has delivered a crucial new document, laying out technical specifications for new products and applications based on EGNOS/EDAS.

At the recent ATC Global conference, the GSA and ESSP presented awards for work to introduce EGNOS in the aviation sector.

At the AERO Friedrichshafen, a global show for general aviation in Germany, we had the opportunity to meet and converse with Michiel Klinkspoor, a European (EASA) and United States (FAA) Flight Instructor from The Netherlands who uses EGNOS.